QPR have brought forward their home fixture with Burton Albion to January 28 from February 14.

It means a Saturday rather than a midweek Tuesday for the game, but also demands thousands of fans to rethink future plans.

Both Hoops and Brewers were knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round, leaving the fourth round date available.

Rangers attendances are traditionally better on a Saturday than midweek, but director of football Les Ferdinand pointed to another bonus.

"From a playing standpoint, it’s always advisable to avoid fixture congestion, and this will free up a midweek later on in the season, increasing the players’ recovery time between games," he told the club's website.

Reasns: Lee Hoos

Chief executive Lee Hoos hopes he will salve the late switch with 'gestures of goodwill' - but explained the club's thinking behind the move.

"We’ve managed to bring this fixture forward to a 3.00pm kick-off on a Saturday afternoon, which is something we’ve not had in recent months for one reason or another," he said.

“Both clubs were keen to do this, so it made perfect sense to take advantage of the free slot in the fixture schedule.

“However, we apologise for the lateness of this change.

“We wanted to confirm this change sooner rather than later, but due to the fact that both Chelsea and Fulham were drawn at home in the FA Cup fourth round our hands were tied somewhat until those fixtures were confirmed.

"The club needed to wait until confirmation of the scheduling of their fixtures on Friday before getting both police and local authority permission to play on that date."

Chelsea are at home to Brentford on the 28th at 3pm. Fulham host Hull the following day (Sunday), kick-off, 12.30pm.

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